Asus ZenFone AR

3 February, 2017

Asus ZenFone AR gives the users an option to use both AR and VR in a single device for the first time. It is by far the world’s first AR phone, an accolade claimed by the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro “tablet” which had a huge 6.4 inch screen. This may be a good thing, because the Asus ZenFone AR is not hopelessly oversized. It has a ton of sensors and lots of cool features and specs.

Features and Specs

It runs Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 821 Chipset optimized for VR that is used in Google Pixel and Pixel XL, a non-removable Li-Ion battery of 3300mAh which is less, considering the size of the phone, but hopefully the factory fitted android OS Nougat v7.0 and rumored in-built vapor cooling technology will take care of the issue of battery life and overheating, especially during VR use.

It comes in freakishly fast 8GB or lower 6GB of RAM, internal storage capacity from 32GB up to 256GB with an option of a memory card supporting a maximum of additional 256GB as well. It has a physical home button with capacitive touch buttons on either side, preventing false touches to that button when using its many apps. It has a large 5.7 inch screen with Quad HD resolution and Super AMOLED display.

A notable and practical difference is that the back of the phone is leather, which is something new as we have been getting used to Aluminum and Glass backs. Asus keeps with its tradition of experimenting with their ZenFones to differentiate each one. The leather provides a firm grip on the phone so there might not be a need of a separate cover as with other phones such as the iPhone 7.

AR and Camera

AR is basically when you can integrate virtual objects so they appear in the real world and the ZenFone AR makes that a reality. The phone will be able to track movement and learn specific areas and be able to tell how far away it is from objects, walls or the floor in any room with spatial awareness, depth perception, motion detection and accurate tracking. It will do this by utilizing Google’s computer vision software and the sensors on the phone as these are an important part of the phone’s AR features. It supports and runs all software that Google Pixel and Pixel XL supports including Google Tango AR software and the Google Daydream VR using Daydream View headset. With the current standing of Google Tango, it is still too early to tell when users will reap the full benefits of the phone’s AR capabilities.

It has a metal framework, with metal accents surrounding the massive 23MP camera which it will be able to use for AR functions and as a normal camera. The camera itself utilizes a new TriCam system with the Sony IMX 318 cam sensor, f/2.0 aperture lens and 0.03s autofocus, EIS, OIS and 4k video recording options. Rumored super-resolution supposedly takes the camera to 92MP according to Asus, with the help of TriCam Technology. It also has a secondary 8MP camera with f/2.0 aperture lens for 85˚ wide angle and HDR support for the ultimate selfies.